DHS Waives Dozens Of Laws To Bulldoze Border Wall Through Lower Rio Grande Valley Refuge

The Trump administration used Section 102/Secure Fence Act waiver authority to exempt more than 30 environmental and public‑health statutes and clear the way for border‑wall construction across 13 tracts of the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge, threatening endangered species and fragmenting habitat in Starr and Hidalgo counties; DHS cited sector apprehension data but did not provide site‑level figures. The action fits a wider, accelerating pattern of repeated DHS waivers across southern sectors.